In Western thought, dating back to the Greeks, there has been a strong tendency toward binary thinking — yes or no, right or wrong, true or false, God and the devil, and left and right in politics. This dichotomous mindset extends into various aspects of Western ideology, including international relations.

Bridging differences in a divided world

By Alan Macfarlane

Therefore, Western nations often adopt a confrontational posture toward others, viewing interactions as competitions where one side must be right and the other wrong.

Historically, this has led to significant conflicts, such as those between Germany and France.

Today, this binary perspective complicates international relations because many in the West, particularly in the United States, believe their systems — democracy, capitalism, individualism, and the Western-style rule of law — are superior.

There is a tendency to persuade, or even coerce, other nations to conform to these principles, sometimes through indirect pressure or military intervention.

Many people in the West try to project this mindset onto other civilizations, particularly China, which is often viewed through the lens of competition.

They don't want to know much about the country, but see China's rise as a "threat" to the West. Rather than consider collaboration as an opportunity for mutual benefit, they see it as a zero-sum game where China's gain implies Western loss.

This binary approach is evident in policies such as tariffs, where the success of another nation in trade is seen as a loss for one's own.

Such attitudes distort geopolitical and individual relations, making it challenging to overcome our Western binary oppositional competitive view.

On the other hand, China's perspective is based on a "both-and", or yinyang, mindset. It is a world where multiple truths co-exist, all partially right, as represented in the concept of yin and yang where opposites contain elements of the other.

Yin contains some yang, while yang contains some yin, and they are in constant flux. Confucian thought emphasizes finding a middle ground along a continuum, embracing a position between the extremes.

This is a world of partial truths and dichotomies, and resembles what is known as quantum thinking.

It is reminiscent of Schrodinger's cat, which is both alive and dead, depending on how you look at it.

I have realized that quantum thinking characterizes China's perspective whereas binary thinking typifies the approach of the West. Although framing these perspectives as oppositional is itself binary, each civilization's development has followed different paths.

The current challenge lies in merging these two systems and fostering mutual tolerance, with each potentially teaching the other something valuable.

In 2004, I began annual visits to China with my wife Sarah. The experiences made me realize how little people in the East and West know about each other.

Over the past two decades, I have endeavored to build bridges of understanding, encouraging Westerners and Chinese alike to recognize the complexity and humanity in each other's worldviews. The aim is to make them understand that the reality isn't black and white or simplistic.

Through communication, travel, friendship and education, it is possible to move to a world where cooperation and understanding replace entrenched dichotomies.

Gradually the binary can fade away and they begin to see that other people are just as human, intelligent and filled with good qualities as they themselves are.

The author is emeritus professor of anthropological science at the University of Cambridge and a life fellow of King's College, Cambridge. He is also a content creator on social media platforms including RedNote, Douyin and Bilibili.

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202610/15/WS6ad02a57e4b06d4aa0562e24.html

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